The Pattern Trader

THE LIFE OF A PROFESSIONAL TRADER. HIS MOTIVES, INSPIRATION AND VISION.

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My 2008 In Review

Up till this year, 1992 had been the best year of my life – I bought my first car, won Group 2 of Toto, got my first HDB flat in Pasir Ris via ballot, won three of the biggest pitches in the advertising industry that year including the Army TV Commercial and I got married.

The years that followed were serious struggles;

• 1995 – Got screwed by my ex-boss and was left stranded in Sydney with company debts up to wazoo with the Mrs pregnant with my first.
• 1996 – Ken Air went down along with my media division.
• 1997 – Unemployed (Asian Financial Crisis) – wife carrying my second child.
• 1999 – My media business went kaput towards the end of the century.
• 2000 – Bust and unemployed (again) and hunted by creditors – downgraded from my 5 room in Pasir Ris to a 3 room in Bedok. Sold the car and everything that was worth anything.
• 2001 – Bankrupt. Wife went out to find work to support the family.
• 2004 – Lost my best friend and constant companion, Toto, my pet Maltese.
• 2005 – Lost my Dad 3 days before Chinese New Year. Lost about US$20,000 (wife’s money)(not including course fees) in on-line (get-rich-quick) trading ventures.

Somewhere in those years, I also lost my Grandma, lost my mind and nearly took my life.

Sounds like stuff that will make a great book, doesn’t it? And that is exactly what is coming out by mid 2009 (no, no, … it won’t be delayed like my other books, I promise) It will be about how one can take a dire situation and turn it around for the better, how one can take positives from negatives and find advantage in adversity. It will also be about bankruptcy and everything you need to know to stave it off, survive it and/or get out of it. Most importantly, it will be about how anyone can make the most of themselves given the right mindset and skillset. This book has been one of the things that have kept my 2008 a really busy and enterprising year.

Amongst other things, 2008 saw the Pattern Trader Tutorial almost double its batches from 2007. The number of students per batch also increased with 4 out of 12 local batches max’d out at 30, compared to the average class size of 18 in 2007. My trades also improved markedly even as the market went through its most volatile year ever. Even more satisfying were the performances of my students, many of whom made 2008 a very profitable year. The success of the Pattern Trader found its way North and completed 5 batches in K.L. and South to graduate 3 batches in Jakarta. Two years after its inception at AKLTG, the Pattern Trader Tutorial remains the best value-for-money starter program for anyone interested in the business of on-line trading and financial understanding. (Pity the Dreamers will never get it.) I am very proud of what this tutorial has become.

With that success came my first interview in a financial magazine, “Invest” in June/July, speaking engagements at NTU Alumni Club, Options Trader’s Club, Investor Exchange, Investfairs in Singapore and K.L. and to top it all off, a feature in ChannelNews Asia’s “Cents & Sensibilities”.

2008 also saw the completion of two more books; “Profit From The Panic” and the long awaited “Secret Psychology of Millionaire Traders“. Both books are due out on the shelves in January 2009. The follow-up to the highly successful Candlestick Reference Cards was also completed – The “Pattern Trader’s Break-Out Patterns Quick Reference Cards” will be released before the end of January 2009. Anticipating more products and services to come, The Pattern Trader Tools was born to support students from beyond our shores.

And I bought myself a new car!

As financially successful as 2008 was, it didn’t come without frustration and heartache. The Candlestick Cards were twice pirated, I was hospitalized for some heart “flutter” as a result of 6 months of excessive coughing, I lost a student to heart failure, my good friend Jack lost his Grandma, a lot of people I know lost their jobs while more lost a lot of money and I got lost in my success.

After being down for so long, I allowed success get to my head early in the year. I allowed myself to over-indulge and almost lost what I had worked so hard to gain. Once again, the strength and will of my determined wife put me back on track and kept my head straight. Thank God for her.

As the year wore on, recession became apparent and as predicted, the global financial rot set in. It has been a rotten year for most in the markets and the bad news is that it will get worse before it gets better.

But in spite of the doom and gloom of 2008, it now supercedes 1992 as my most financially fulfilling year and the year I achieve most, if not all the objectives I set out to do three years earlier. If there was one other item on the list I wished could have been better, it would be my health. I intend to improve that front in 2009.

So with 2008 behind me now, I am looking forward to the challenges of 2009 and beyond from a world aching from financial pain. Having survived 1987, 1997 and 2000, I am taking nothing for granted and will be on my toes as long as this economy remains shithoused. Along the way, I will continue to keep reaching out to help those who ask for help. My family will remain my top priority and my children will always come first.

So bring it on, 2009! I am ready and waiting and I am going to make the best of it!

Cheers to all my readers and a very Happy New Year to all … may it be as prosperous for all of us as 2008 has been for me.

Farewell 2008 … thanks for the memories.

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